BY Adam Ambro
Challenge: Raising brand awareness with a community bank multimedia ad campaign
Matt Centner, an experienced media sales rep from KOAA, was looking to assist a local business with their own community bank multimedia ad campaign, using his knowledge, and, of course, AdMall.
“[The bank] has been established in its small rural community since 1944,” said Centner. “The bank has been in the [same] family since its inception…[and is] now run by [the grandson] of the founder.”
“[The] bank just opened two new locations in [the market]. It needed to quickly build brand awareness and trust in a competitive market. The client was new to traditional advertising and needed guidance.”
Solution: Use AdMall’s market intelligence research
“I use AdMall for a lot of different reasons from audience intelligence for a particular industry to be able to prospect new businesses to special promotions and co-op opportunities for businesses and organizations to take advantage of,” said Centner.
“The research and data that AdMall provides helps separate us from other media sellers in the market as we are able to speak that industry's language and enhance the value of what we are bringing to the table to help their business grow.”
“I researched consumer behavior and messaging strategies that convince people to switch banks and identified top-performing advertising mediums for trust-building in financial services. [I also] used insights to position [KOAA] as the trusted local news brand for market credibility.”
Result: A strengthened relationship firmly-positioned KOAA as the bank’s primary marketing partner
The community bank liked Centner’s pitch, and they agreed to a 13-month integrated plan focused on leveraging [KOAA’s] loyal news audience. The total value for the community bank multimedia ad campaign was $130,000, with $2,500 a month of that going towards digital advertising specifically.
“AdMall’s market intelligence helped tailor the right [community bank multimedia ad campaign] to establish trust, build awareness and drive adoption for a new entrant in the [local] banking market,” said Centner.
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More About: Banks (Community)
Community banks are generally locally owned independent institutions, managing less than $10 billion in assets, though some manage assets worth billions of dollars. Historically, community banks have the interest of the local community as a priority and often invite local business leaders and prominent citizens to sit on the board of directors. These banks serve individual investors with savings and loans services but they also loan money to local businesses.
Though banking is an increasingly competitive business, newly chartered FDIC banks continue to open. To stay competitive, community banks are rolling out the convenience of online services while they try to maintain a personal touch with clients in local communities. Additionally, frustration with the "big banks" has led many customers to seek out local community banks.
There were approximately 4,050 institutions that were considered to be community banks in 2024. For the full year 2024, annual net income was $25.9 billion. Net interest margin (NIM) for community banks in early 2025 was 3.46%. Community banks reported quarterly net income of $6.8 billion in Q1 2025.
